In what was his third bout in roughly two days at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, Lawal (19-4) went to his wrestling early against Prochazka (16-3-1). His opponent threatened occasional from the bottom position, but eventually, the contest swung back to the feet and striking exchanges resumed.

Lawal, who earned a knockout in opening round and a decision victory in the semifinals, landed a perfect counter right hand on an incoming Prochazka and the Czech fighter was down from the moment of impact.

Prochazka went crashing to the canvas face-first and “King Mo” celebrated his tournament victory to close out Rizin Fighting Federation 1: Day 2 in memorable fashion.

Emelianenko returns with first-round TKO of Singh

As expected, Fedor Emelianenko (35-4) made quick work of Jaideep Singh (2-1) in his first bout in more than three years when he picked up a first-round TKO victory.

Emelianenko didn’t need much to get past Singh. After he figured out how to navigate the height and reach advantage of his opponent, the former PRIDE heavyweight champion advanced into range to work for a takedown. He got it from the help of a body lock, and Singh was immediately placed in danger.

Singh struggled to find a secure way to escape from the bottom as Emelianenko patiently landed strikes and waited for an opening to move in for the kill. Singh flipped over onto his back and allowed “The Last Emperor” into side control, and from there Emelianenko hammered away from punches to the head until Singh decided to tap out and the referee stopped the fight.

After retiring from MMA competition in in June 2012, Emelianenko showed almost no signals of being a significantly deteriorated fighter, even if Singh had minimal tools to expose potential flaws. Nevertheless, Emelianenko has now won four consecutive bouts dating back to November 2011.

Gracie picks up another first-round submission win

After scoring a quick submission victory in his MMA debut earlier this year, Kron Gracie (2-0) put some of his standup ability on display in his sophomore appearance before he eventually dragged Asen Yamamoto (0-1) to the ground and locked up a fight-ending triangle choke in the first round.

Yamamoto showed little regard for Gracie’s esteemed grappling background when the fight first hit the mat He survived a deep armbar attempt and somehow managed to get back to his feet. The action spilled back to the canvas shortly thereafter, though, but Yamamoto established top position.

Unsurprisingly, Gracie was very active in search of the finish from his back. It didn’t take him long to lock up a triangle choke, and after a brief struggle in which the Japanese fighter slammed Gracie in attempt to escape, Yamamoto was forced to tap out.

Gabi Garcia successful in MMA debut

The anticipated MMA debut of 10-time jiu-jitsu world champion Gabi Garcia (1-0) played out like the spectacle many had expected when she stopped Seini Draughn (0-1) by first-round TKO after a sloppy, back-and-forth women’s heavyweight fight.

Draughn, a professional wrestler that also made her MMA debut, nearly pulled off the upset in the opening seconds of the bout when she dropped Garcia with a big punch. The Brazilian showed her composure, though, because she regained her wits and continued to throw punches.

After some wild striking exchanges, Garcia clipped Draughn with a backhand that caused a knockdown. Garcia got on top and pounded away with hammerfists until referee John McCarthy called an end to the contest.

Lawal, Prochazka advance to tournament finals

After striking and talking smack to his opponent for the majority of the first round, Muhammed Lawal adjusted strategy and took Teodoras Aukstuolis (8-3) to the ground in the second frame. He kept it there for the remainder of the round and earned a unanimous decision victory that moved him to the heavyweight tournament final.

Minutes after Lawal’s victory, Jiri Prochazka and Vadim Nemkov (5-1) engaged in a memorable battle that was filled with competitive action on the feet and ground. Both men had the upper hand on several occasions, but after the 10-minute opening round came to an end, Nemkov collapsed to the ground out of exhaustion and Prochazka was awarded the TKO win to solidify a place in the finals.